November 20, 2012

When my birthday finally rolled around, I didn't know what I was going to do.  I did not want to be sitting in a cube at work on my birthday, but I was already asking off the next day for a long Thanksgiving weekend, so I wasn't sure I could ask off on my actual birthday.  I knew this birthday was going to be totally different than any I before, but I still wanted to enjoy it.  I would not be spending this birthday with friends because they were either at work or at school.  This was a weird thought because I normally was in class on my birthday and I was around a bunch of people.  I was excited about my birthday, but I just didn't know what it was going to be like.  

When I was at my parents house the weekend before, I found out that my mama had taken the entire week of Thanksgiving off, so I decided to take off on Tuesday (the 20th) and spend the entire day with her!  So on the morning of my birthday, I woke up early and had breakfast with Jake before he went to work, then I went back to bed.  Next, I woke up, got ready, and met mama for lunch at Los Tres Magueyes, and then we were off to get a Mani/Pedi.  Oh how relaxing and nice it was!  

Next we went to the apartment, gathered all of my things for the farm, including Trigger, and went back to my parents house.  As we waited for Jake and my dad to get home we just hung out!! It was great!  Lastly we had pizza for supper before Jake and I headed to the Farm!  It was a great Birthday and I could not have thought of a better way to spend it than relaxing and girl talking with my mama!

November Birthdays

As our family grows, it is getting harder and harder to celebrate everyone's individual birthday.  We have started having one celebration for that Month.  This time it was November birthdays.  Granny and Janessa share a birthday on November 8th and my Birthday is November 20th.  We had such a great time with family!! It was fun to spend the evening with family!  

The Birthday Girls

 Janessa opening one of her presents 

 Janessa helping granny open her presents

 Janessa helping Aunt Lucy open presents

 Our Cake!! 

 Birthday girls blowing out candles

 Licking the candles is one of the best parts!!!

 Janessa turned 3!! (Notice the 3 Candle)

Granny and Me

This was such a fun way to celebrate our birthday!! I am so thankful for family and how much fun we have spending time together!!  I am so glad I share a birthday with my Granny and my Niece! 

Wordless Wednesday: Where's Trigger?

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to Elizabeth!

Happy Birthday to you!!

Elizabeth I am so thankful for you!! We have had many awesome times together and I am so glad that even though we don't get together as much as we would like, we can pick up right where we left off!! As I think back to high school, some of my craziest pictures are with you!! Thank you for being such a wonderful friend!!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! I hope you have a wonderful day!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!! 

Hunting

My man LOVES to hunt, fish, ride four wheelers, etc.  He just loves to be outdoors!  Just about every Saturday for the past month, he has gotten up and been in a field somewhere between 5-6 AM! (YES AM).  One particular morning, I woke up with a text telling me he shot two does!! With his brothers help, they cleaned and took both deer to the processor.  I am so thankful for this because we now have a freezer full of deer steaks, sausage, and burger!  AWESOME!

On Veteran's Day, Jake had off work and my brother did not have to be at work until 11:00 AM.  Can you guess what they decided to do?? GO HUNTING!! Scott spent the night at our apartment and they got up and left around 4:30 AM!! (Is it really that much fun???) They shot a Cow Horn Buck.  This means the buck's antlers did not branch out.  There were two that went straight out.  Pretty cool!  

Going for a Walk

Trigger LOVES to go on walks!  When we are not home, Trigger stays in the bathroom with a baby gate.  I try to come home a few times a week for lunch and take him on walks or just get him out and play with him for a few minutes so that he is not stuck in the bathroom all day!  This is especially true when we have another activity in the evening like AWANA or something!   

When we get ready to go, I ask him, "Trigger do you want to go on a walk?" and he will run/scamper over to wear we keep his leash and look up at it!  It is the cutest thing!  Then we put on his harness (it looks like a life jacket!).  When we first got him, he did not like putting on his harness.  I do not unclip the top part and I make him put his head through the hole and then I velcro the part around his mid section.  Now, I sit on my knees and he puts his front two paws on my knees and pokes his little nose through the hole!  It is too cute!  

Most times when we take Trigger on a walk, we are trying to get some energy out so we can watch a movie or something.  Depending on whats going on that night, we will power walk or jog and he is super excited to do either.  We also use this time as training so he will learn to let Jake or me set the pace instead of pulling on the leash (but we sometimes still have trouble with this depending on how excited he is). 

He is such a good boy and is learning very quickly!! I am so thankful that we picked a puppy that WANTS to please us and is not stubborn.  

 I sure do love my Trigger Boy!

Mama's Chili

With this cold weather, I am ALL about soups.  One day last week we had a day that was a little warm, but I had planned to cook chili for supper.  I was a little disappointed because I do not like soup or chili when it is warm outside.  Thankfully it gets pretty cold in the evenings and we have our heat set on 65 so its pretty cold in our apartment too!  It was the perfect evening for chili!  I have tried other people's chili, but my mama's is my favorite! 

Mama's Chili

(~3 servings)

1 Pound of Hamburger (browned and drained)

1 Can of Progresso Tomato Basil Soup

1/8 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of Ketchup

1/2 package of chili powder

1 can of Pinto Beans

Mix all ingredients together until desired warmth.  Top with cheese and sour cream is desired.  

DINNER IS SERVED!

We decided to have grilled cheese sandwiches with our chili! 

YUMMY!!!

Sleepy Trigger

Sunshine Award

Hello everyone!! I am been awarded the Sunshine Award by Rebecca at Rebecca's Random Ramblings.

Here are the rules: 

1.  Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them.

THANKS REBECCA!!! (The link is above)

2.  Place the Sunshine Award on your Blog.

(here it is)

3.  Answer the questions about yourself that can be found on the blog of the person that nominated you.

4.  Nominate others for the award!

So.. Here we go!

1.  What is your favorite Holiday Movie? 
Well.. I'm going to be honest... I LOVE all Hallmark holiday movies.  If there is a turkey or a christmas tree in it and the two main characters are in love by the end of the movie... Its a favorite!  But I guess if I had to pick just one... It would be Elf.  When Jake and I started dating in 2006 we watched Elf together around Christmas and it instantly became a tradition.  Every year since we pick a night and watch Elf together!

2.  What is your favorite flower?  
A Gerbera Daisy is my favorite flower.  I love how bright and happy they are!! 

3.  What is your favorite Drink?
Mountain Dew! At work we call it my Liquid Encouragement!

4.  What is your passion?
I love being a wife, learning how to be a better wife, training Trigger, and planning for our future.  So I guess my passion is family!  I love to be surrounded with current family and planning for future family members! :o)

5.  What is your favorite time of the year?
My favorite time of the year is from my birthday (November 20th) through New Years!  It may be because thats the time period we are in right now, but I just LOVE and enjoy this time of year so much!  It means being surrounded with family and doing family traditions!!  I am really looking forward to starting new traditions with Jake!

6.  What is your favorite time of the day?
My favorite time of the day would have to be after we have eaten supper and after all the dishes are finished being washed.  At this point, we normally go to the couch and either watch a movie or a funny show on TV.  We finally get to relax after a long day at work and cooking/cleaning up from supper!

7.  What is your favorite physical activity?
I love to dance!  I do not have much rhythm, but it sure is more fun than going to the gym and lifting weights or running.  I am a HUGE fan of Zumba!  I also enjoy doing aerobics.  This isn't really dancing, but it is done to music and has "steps".  Anything that is fast paced, has music, doesn't feel like working out but am having fun, and I am burning calories... I'm in!

8.  What is your favorite vacation spot?
My newest and most favorite vacation spot would have to be where we went on our Honeymoon, the Excellence Resort in Playa Mujeres, Mexico!  OH MY WORD!  I have never been to an All Inclusive Resort before, but I really hope we can one day afford to go back!! It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been!

I hope all of you enjoyed learning a little about me!!  So now it's time for me to nominate my followers for the Sunshine Award!!

Hannah @ Days With Dante

Lauren @ Life As A Wife

Tara @ The Dew Family

Pampered Chef Product LOVE!

If you brown a lot of hamburger, you NEED the Pampered Chef Mix N' Chop!  IT IS WONDERFUL!!! Here is a little random fact about Lauren, I cannot STAND to get my hands dirty!! This is extremely true while I am cooking.  Growing up, I would watch my mama pull the hamburger out of the freezer, defrost it, and then open the package.  Next, she would crumble the hamburger into small pieces and put it in the frying pan.  Handling the meat is not what gets me, its the greasy film that is left on your hands after touching the uncooked meat.  The Mix N' Chop allows you to put the entire amount of uncooked meat in the pan and as it is cooking you separate it.  The meat NEVER has to touch your hands!!  Thank you Pampered Chef for this awesome cooking tool!

My College Girls

I LOVED college and these girls definitely had a lot to do with it!  Before we graduated and all decided to go our separate ways, we decided to do one more girly get together!!  

We went to this sweet little restaurant called Mary's Cottage.  It was pretty neat and we all enjoyed getting dressed up and hanging out together!

 Next we walked around downtown and took pictures together!  Oh how I miss these girls and wished I didn't live so far away from all of them!

I am so thankful for each of these girls and the role they played in making my college experience one of the best ones I could ever have imagined!! 

Happy Birthday Granny and Janessa!!

Today my Granny and Niece Janessa share a birthday!!  

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Granny and Janessa!!

Happy Birthday to you!!

 We hope the two of you have a wonderful birthday!!! We love you both very much!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Fun at Chic-fil-a

Stony Hill Baptist Church Trunk-or-Treat 2012

When I was little I used to LOVE halloween!  I would dress up every year and as a family we would go to family members and friends houses to get candy! As I have grown up, halloween has not been my favorite activity.  Dressing up is fun, but I do not enjoy going to halloween parties, and when I was living at my parents house we only had about 3 trick-or- treaters.  When Jake and I were in college, it became exciting again!  Student services decided on a theme for the whole campus and all the girls dorms were to decorate according to the theme.  Then on October 31, the professors would brings their kids by and let them trick-or-treat to the college kids.  It was a fun twist on Halloween!   Well this year was different and I LOVED it!  We did a Trunk-or-Treat at church.  I have never participated in a trunk-or-treat, so I really didn't know what to expect.  It was a HUGE hit!!  There were about 20 cars that decorated their trunks (nothing scary of course) and it was a safe place for the kids to run around and have a little fun!  I really enjoyed it because we actually had Trick-or-Treaters!! It was fun to see the kids all dressed up!  

Dressed up at AWANA for the Theme Night

With the Dews

With Amanda (One of our Youth)

After church we went to Krispy Kreme because if you went in wearing your costume you received a FREE doughnut!!! 

Halloween 2012 was AWESOME!!
Can't wait till Next Year!

Happy Birthday Manda!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to Manda!

Happy Birthday to you!!!

Manda was my second college roommate and I am so thankful for her!  We had many wonderful times together!  Staying up late talking, studying, going to McDonalds at CRAZY hours of the night, Bible Studies, etc.  I love Manda!  She has definitely become one of my best friends!  I have learned since college that your roommate can either be your best friend of your worst enemy!! I am so thankful that I had AWESOME college roommates!  

Happy Birthday Manda!!! I hope you have an AWESOME day!!

Date Night In

Hot Chocolate is one of my favorite things when it is cold outside!  We have not turned the heat on at our apartment yet, so it is also cold inside (between 62-65 degrees).  After supper, we were trying to decide what to do!! It was our first night with nothing to do in quite a while, since Jake's softball season is over, so we decided to have a date night in!  

We did not have any instant hot chocolate, so I used milk and chocolate syrup (which in my opinion is better anyway) and we were set! 

 We cuddled up on the couch with our mugs and our Trigger boy and enjoyed a night of relaxing which was MUCH needed!

Our...well MY movie of choice was Miss Congeniality 2.  I have watched the first one MULTIPLE times, but I had never seen the second.  I'v got to say...it was HILARIOUS!! 

We had such a fun time spending our evening together!! We were both in our pajamas, drinking hot chocolate, and cuddling!  I'm not sure how is could have gotten better!

Pedicures with Aunt Lucy

Have I mentioned how much I love being an Aunt?? I love spending time with with this little girl!! While I was at my parents this weekend Janessa found the Pedicure set we have that includes a inflatable foot bath, heart shaped soap flakes, and toe separators (for painting).  Oh boy...when she found this did she get excited!! She begged for us to "Give her feet a bath" all through supper.  When it was finally time to "Give her feet a bath" she was super excited!  

Did I mention we let her sit on the counter while her feet were soaking??

 Then we started playing in the bubbles!! 

Then it was time to dry off and PAINT!!!  We TRIED to use the toe separator things but her little feet were too small.

Pretty Toes!!! Trigger even got his little foot in the picture!